1. Claim of Priority
This application claims priority to Chinese Patent Application No. 200810203854.4 filed on Dec. 1, 2008.
2. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to an electrical device and a connector-securing structure, and more particularly, relates to an electrical device and a connector-securing structure using a through-board method for securing a connector in a gap of a circuit board.
3. Description of Prior Art
An electrical connector is an important element in an electrical device. The connector is usually secured to a circuit board in an electrical device by a soldering process to electrically connect to other connectors for transmitting signals. The connector may be secured to the circuit board in two methods: using a through-board method or using an on-board method. Using the through-board, the connector is set in a gap of the circuit board and soldering fixing terminals of the connector on a surface of the circuit board.
During detecting, testing and maintaining process, operations of connecting and disconnecting the connector are repeatedly implemented. Connecting and disconnecting forces are mainly applied on soldering point between the fixing terminals of the connector and the circuit board. Due to the large volume of force that is applied during the repeatedly connecting and disconnecting processes, the connector sometimes becomes loosened or separated from the circuit board, resulting in an unreliable transmitting signal and even a short service life.
Providing securing posts on the connector and recesses in the circuit board corresponding to the securing posts is commonly used in the existing solution. The connector is secured to the circuit board by fitting the securing posts in the recesses of the circuit board. During detecting and maintaining process, connecting and disconnecting forces are mainly applied on the securing posts of the connector and the recesses of the circuit board when the operations of connecting and disconnecting the connector are implemented, thereby reducing the force being applied on the soldering point between the connector and the circuit board. However, when the connector is connected or disconnected by a larger force, the roots of the securing posts tend to easily crack and even break, thereby damaging the connector.
To solve the problem of easily damaging of the connector, U.S. patent application publication No. 2007/0093110 discloses a connector with a securing portion. The connector's securing portion comprises a soldering portion soldered on a circuit board. The connector's securing portion also comprises a tail portion which is inserted into a through-hole of the circuit board, thereby strengthening the fixing function of the securing portion and reducing the possibility of looseness of the soldering point, thus solving the problem of easily damaging of the connector. However, the circuit board is usually a multi-layer circuit board and includes many different layers such as a grounding layer, a signal layer etc. In some area of the circuit board, the soldering point formed between the through-hole and the tail portion tends to electrically connect the grounding layer and the signal layer and results in a short circuit. As a result, the connector can only be applied to a limited area of the circuit board. In order to prevent the short circuit problem, the through-hole must be specially processed to prevent short circuit so that the connector is applicable to all scopes of the circuit board. However, the short-circuit prevention process increases the manufacturing costs.
Therefore, it is necessary to propose a new electrical device and connector-securing structure to overcome the shortcomings of the existing securing structure.